


Synergy

by childoflightning



Series: just keep stumbling forward (baby im waiting for you) [12]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Anxiety, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders is Extra, Cute, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Graduation, M/M, Minor Angst, Multi, Other, Trauma, Virgil has PTSD, Virgil has a Service Dog, feel good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-03
Updated: 2019-06-03
Packaged: 2020-04-07 02:06:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19075288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childoflightning/pseuds/childoflightning
Summary: Today's the day. Virgil's graduating from college. But, he's forgetting one thing. A 49 lbs thing to be exact. But don't worry, his boyfriends won't let him forget.





	Synergy

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Brief Mention of Past Self Harm and Risk Towards Others  
> IN DEPTH TW IN END NOTES

The living room was shivering with excitement. Four young adults were the cause of such energy. The first was holding a light pink material, while the second tried to take it from him. The third stood in front of the mirror, with the fourth standing close by his side, ready to assist as needed. If someone was to look at the household, the amount of energy would seem unwarranted. After all, they were just putting flimsy cloth on over fancy clothes. There’s nothing very exciting about that. But, the excitement was not for the scramble to get dressed, but instead for the event after.

“You are way to excited about your gown,” Virgil said with a huff, giving Roman a disappointed side glance.

“It’s pink!” he protested in his defense, fiddling with the said item.

“Stay still,” Patton insisted from where he was trying to pin the gown in place.

Roman stilled so Patton could fix it on him.

“I think you’re just mad because it doesn’t fit your emo atmosphere,” Roman said.

“I am more than fine with it,” Virgil said with a laugh, “I just wish the colors didn’t clash as bad.”

“They look nice,” Roman protested.

“Uh, I think you’re the only one who thinks green and pink go together. Just wait until we’re all in our pink robes under the green tent. We’re going to look like fucking flowers in a garden,” Virgil argued with a snort.

“Flowers are pretty,” Patton pointed out.

“Honestly, of you shouldn’t be complaining. Patton is going to have to wear a lemony color along with the pink and green next year,” Logan butted in.

“God, am I regretting getting my masters if only for that fact,” Patton said with a huff, “I mean most schools just stick to the traditional black, but noooo, we have to be special.”

Patton finally finished pinning the gown in place on Roman. The four all shuffled around, making sure they each looked presentable.

“Hey, where's Trixie?” Virgil said, looking around for his dog as they prepared to leave.

“Okay,” Roman started, “Don’t be mad, but-”

“Oh my god- Roman where is my dog?” Virgil demanded, eyes narrowing.

Just then, Logan opened the door to the bathroom and said pup came bounding out of the room. The Dutch Shepherd was wearing her own graduation gown, complete with the cap and tassel.

“What did you do?” Virgil said, eyes wide as the dog leapt towards him, seemingly unbothered by the attire. Of course she was, Trixie was his perfect darling.

“Well, you and Roman are graduating. And you and Trixie are a team, it didn’t seem right to have you graduate without her,” Logan said.

“She would still be with me,” Virgil protested, “Just not in,” he gestured to the getup, “that.”

“But this way, she looks extra fetching,” Patton said with a wink.

“Oh my god, seriously guys,” Virgil groaned.

“If you don’t like it,” Roman said, biting his bottom lip, “We can take it off. We just thought…” he trailed off.

Virgil was quick to stand to face his boyfriends.

“No, no, no,” Virgil said, waving his hands frantically, “I kind of love it actually?”

“You do?” Logan asked.

“Yeah,” Virgil agreed with a quick nod, “It’s actually really sweet. Perfect in fact.”

He turned his focus towards his dog and felt a tear fall down his cheek. Okay wait when did that happen.

“Virgil?” Patton asked, “You good?”

The younger boy sat on the ground and called to his dog, petting her gently.

“Yeah I’m okay, just thinking,” Virgil said.

“About?” Logan prompted.

“Uh, did I ever tell you guys when I got Trixie?” he asked.

The three shook their heads.

“Well, my old dog, Dolly was getting, well, old, and she just couldn’t perform anymore. So we went out to find a new dog and planned to retire Dolly. I was not happy about it,” Virgil said with a chuckle and then continued his explanation, “Uh, changes like that, especially with my partner... well I still don’t handle change very well. But I was much much worse then. I didn’t want another dog. I wanted Dolly. But Trixie refused to go away and we brought her home. And I hated training with her and put off switching as long as possible.

"And then one day I had a flashback and Dolly didn’t task. And this was, what, five years ago? And uh, I could get dangerous then. To myself or others. And Trixie, just a few months old came and lied on top of me just as how she had seen Dolly do. I mean she was tiny and still doing obedience training. You don’t train DPT and tasking until much later. But she had seen Dolly do it and copied it. And it worked. Her little tiny puppy weight was grounding enough. And she pulled me out of it. I started training with her after that. It’s just. Y’know I really couldn’t have done any of this without Trix, especially my first two years in college. So it’s just,” Virgil sniffled, “a lot. And the gown is really cute and just... Thank you. It means more than I can say.”

“Can we hug you?” roman asked.

Virgil nodded.

All three of them enclosed him into a warm embrace. The group sat there a few minutes, just soaking in the moment.

“Fuck, okay, let’s go, we don’t want to be late,” Virgil eventually said. The group slowly broke apart.

“Awesome, then let’s go get you two graduated,” Patton said with a smile, kissing Roman and then Virgil and reaching down to pet Trixie.

“What about my kiss?” Logan asked with a frown.

“Needy,” Patton teased, but turned around and gave him a kiss as well.

* * *

“Virgil Torres...and Trixie?” The announcer called, looking confident at first, but trailing off in a bit of uncertainty.

Virgil snorted a laugh. He couldn’t believe that his boyfriends had even managed to go in and change his name to include Trixie’s. He stood, Trixie right by his side, perfectly regal, setting an amazing an example of what a service dog was. He walked forward and up on the stand. He shook hands with numerous people until finally arriving at the last person who was holding his diploma.

“Trixie, Get It. Gentle,” he directed, pointing at the diploma.

His dog carefully reached out and grasped the diploma in her mouth.

“Good girl Trix, good girl, we did it,” Virgil said as he grinned widely.

And yeah, later his diploma did have a little bit of slobber on it. But it had been so so worth it.

* * *

A tiny writhing body climbed into his lap. Virgil ignored it and instead continued eavesdropping on his father next to him. His father was talking to the breeder about the type of dog the current puppies they were looking at were.

“Dutch Shepherds aren’t a common breed,” she was saying, “but we have personally found them great for PTSD service dogs. We’ve been watching them for about seven generations now and are trying to bring more awareness to the breed. Dutch’s are a very intelligent and alert breed with lots of energy and good work drive. They can be a bit stubborn, but from what we’ve seen, as long as they are trained starting as puppies, they often do quite well. Of course, as with any breed, some wash out, but we haven’t seen any concerning numbers. Plus, they just have a way of worming into your heart,” she concluded.

Virgil’s dad turned back to him and the seventeen year-old went back to pretending he wasn’t listening.

“What do you think?” his dad asked him.

Virgil looked down at the small lump of fur on his lap. The small dog looked up at him, tiny eyes peering up at him. A lump formed in Virgil’s throat.

“I don’t want a new dog,” he said vehemently and he pushed the tiny dog off and turned away. The tiny dog wasn’t deterred and tried to clamor back up onto him, even as Virgil stopped its advances.

His father sighed.

“How about this one?” he asked, “Can you tell us about her?” he asked as he gestured to the small body trying to clamor onto Virgil.

“That’s Purple,” the breeder said, “Of course, Purple wouldn't be her name, that’s just her color to keep all the puppies separated. Purple means she was the third born. She’s small, but a loyal one for sure.”

“V, what do you think about her?” his dad asked, “She seems to like you.”

Virgil stood angrily, knocking the pup back slightly. The dog yelped.

“I don’t want another dog,” he insisted, tears springing to his eyes, “I want Dolly.”

The little pup just came back over and sat by his feet, gazing up with him with eyes that seemed too wise for her young age.

“I know honey, but Dolly’s getting old.”

Virgil turned away angrily. This dog would never be his. Ever.

His father sighed.

“We’ll take her.”

**Author's Note:**

> IN DEPTH TW: Brief Mention of Past Self Harm and Risk Towards Others (Virgil mentions past harmful habits and tendencies)
> 
> I thought we all needed some fluff in this series, so here you go. Thanks for reading and continuing with this. Let me know what you think. Please be polite.  
> ~childoflightning


End file.
